Your Very Worst
by MaintainPressure
Summary: Midorima Shintarou has faced challenging situations before, but none more so than the one that appears at the beginning of his second year at Shutoku High. Satoshi Hiroko is a mysterious and unwelcome addition to the miracle shooter's social and individual life, not to mention he has enough personal baggage to drag them both down. But Midorima is yet to learn the worst of it.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

In the last light of this day, beneath the radiant stars which had only just blinked into existence, many wonders are sure to occur. For instance, one elusive wonder may be found under a leaf in a small tree, where a butterfly breathes its first breath of new life; another behind the joy in a little face that has just beheld the sight of a mewling kitten. Others may hide behind masks of punitive indifference; in dark alleyways loathe to prove host to such miracles, a tiny bird fights for life and receives flight, and in the bright streets that hoard less hope than harsh teachings, a tiny hand embraces the coarse, weathered finger of a homeless man.

Yes, it was a night for many miracles – but none more so than that which transpires only once every eleven years.

This story begins in the blinking, wonder-filled eyes of a small child, inside of which stares the eyes of another, small child. Under the somnolent eye of the Balsamic moon, two tiny beings gaze into each other – seeing, understanding, unearthing boundless mysteries beholden to none but the other. Violet blurs into green while green remains prominent, before succumbing to the lure of the moon's mystical pull; green immerses amid violet.

Hesitantly, almost reverently, they meet. A feather light touch – a whisper of chance – a sealing of destiny. They merge; violet into green, and one after the other, their faces reflect the stars. Once-bitter nemeses shed their inhibitions like armour, and with a small giggle of affirmation from one half of what had become – however briefly – a single whole, fate took a different path, and possibilities stretched out like the endless sea of stars that twinkled overhead with equal merriment.

Order regarded the sight before him, frowning in discontent as the two children ran and leapt and learned true happiness, while Anarchy clapped her hands in glee at the sight. On this night, all was not as it should be, but all that _could_ be was seen. Lines were crossed and possibilities were explored and conclusions were dashed like the leaves beneath their feet. It was a night of perfect, wonderful infinities.

Nevertheless, it would not last; in the near future inhibitions became leashed, armour was donned, and violet was violet. Words would hamper and eyes would lower and a sneering voice would remind the two of their place in the world. Things would become as they should, and Order sighed once in relief.

Yet, for now, the opposites had found an accord, for it is on this day that Cancer and Aries find themselves matched as equals, and the stars smile down on them both.


	2. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke._

 **Chapter One:**

Amidst the jostling bodies that were frantically shoving past each other to make it through the Shutoku High gates before the chime of the bell, a lone black-haired boy stood facing the other direction. He was casting his gaze overtop heads – though he did not have to crane his head very far – in search for a flash of green to give away the position of his friend. Who, for the first time ever, was late.

Takao scowled when the bell sounded from behind him, telling himself he would linger for one more minute before he abandoned the miracle shooter to his fate. He had his own skin to worry about; not only would he be frowned upon for walking into class late, but Mizushima was more than likely already patrolling the halls, on the lookout for any student unfortunate enough to be caught out of class. He'd heard talk of an incident where a student had actually gone _missing_ for being late, and then at lunch been spied walking out of the gym shed with his uniform askew and hair ruffled, claiming that he'd lost consciousness after being attacked by a shadowy figure. All eyes had glanced warily at the culprit, a tall girl with more power in her little finger than most boys' right arms.

The Prez was bloodthirsty, and Takao sure as hell was _not_ getting himself caught in those fierce claws –

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._ Takao frowned at the sound coming from his pocket, then pulled out his phone and answered, wondering who would be calling him right before school. "Hello?"

"Takao," Shin-chan's voice says in his ear. "What are you doing?"

His head cocked at the words. "Huh? I'm waiting for you, dumbass! Where the heck are you?" The audible sigh on the other end was enough to have him grinding his teeth. "Oi, don't sigh at me –!"

"Turn around."

Takao turned, but saw no one behind him – since everyone was already indoors!

"Look up, _baka_."

He did, and then his mouth fell open. Midorima stared down at him impassively from a second-story window, and when he met his gaze, he shut his phone with a snap.

"H-Hey! Shin-chan!" he yelled uselessly into the phone. "You –"

Movement to his right caught his attention – the Prez was just walking out of the gym, head raised high as though just catching a wandering scent. _His_ scent.

In two seconds flat he was halfway to the stairs.

* * *

"But you said you were going to be _late_ ," he insisted for the umpteenth time.

"I was. Slightly." When he glanced down at his friend's fuming face, Midorima sighed once and pushed up his glasses. "Takao, I am _never_ late. You of all people should know that."

Takao huffed in response. "You can't go making sweeping statements like that."

"Nonsense. I follow fate," he said simply.

"Yeah, yeah, I know – oomph!" Takao broke off when he felt someone slam into his right side. He frowned at the retreating figure responsible. "Hey, watch where you're walking, man!"

The smaller figure stopped, turned slowly and walked to stand before him. The boy's head barely reached Midorima's chin – mildly shorter than Takao – but that didn't seem to faze him in the least. In fact, his features were perfectly serene as he said, "I was watching where I was walking. You happened to be in my way."

Beside him, Midorima's brows rose in mild surprise, but Takao was less than impressed. "Well wouldn't the standard reaction be to move away a little?"

The boy assessed him with piercing eyes; Takao noted with growing unease that they were a strange violet colour. The way they seemed to stare right through him sent shivers down his spine. "Why don't you take your own advice, Takao-san?" The boy smiled once and strode away without a single backward glance.

Takao was left blinking stupidly. "What the hell just happened?"

Midorima pushed up his glasses and explained, "That is Satoshi Hiroko. He's a second-year like us, and today is his first day."

"First day?" Takao repeated incredulously. "How d'you know that?"

"Because it's my job to know," Midorima explained with exaggerated slowness, as though he were conversing with a five-year-old. "I'm a member of the student council, after all."

"Yeah, I guess... Well, he didn't make a very good first impression on me," he huffed indignantly.

"Quit sulking about it and get to class, delinquent."

"Oi!" Takao called out, but his green-haired partner was already out of ear-shot.

* * *

After he was comfortably seated – with his lucky-item handheld heater pack in one corner of his desk and colour-coded pens in the other – he sighed once and leaned back into his seat, thinking ahead what was to come for the rest of the day. After he'd eaten his lunch, he had to speak to Hiruko-sensei regarding a problem with the chemistry homework from the day before. Then it was off to Ayane-sensei for confirmation on some oddly-structured notes on the piano piece he'd chosen for his exam later in the term – which was fast approaching. Only five weeks until he would have to perform in front of Japan's most –

"Excuse me, Midorima-senpai. Do you know what page we're up to in this lesson?"

Midorima slowly turned to gaze in barely-concealed disapproval at the figure who'd interrupted his internal concentration. Satoshi Hiroko was staring up at him with a pair of unblinking, strangely-coloured violet eyes; the longer he stared, the deeper the colour seemed to become. Midorima noticed that if he shifted his head just slightly, the colour became indigo in the inner regions of the iris…

Then he realised the boy was waiting for an answer.

He cleared his throat once and pushed his glasses up his nose before replying, "I'm not your Senpai; we're both in our second year. And you should try coming to class more prepared." He opened his biology textbook to the bookmark he used. "We're up to page two hundred and thirty-six."

Hiroko blinked once – for the first time – and tilted his head a little. "Oh. I thought you were older, given your height." Evidently, he was choosing to ignore Midorima's – perhaps deliberate – jibe.

"Unfortunately, that's not the case." He left it at that and turned to stare at the board – but it wasn't long before he felt something tug insistently on the back of his uniform. Blowing out a frustrated breath, he turned and fixed the boy with his most intimidating stare. "What do you want?"

"May I please borrow a pen from you, Midorima-kun?"

A vein popped in Midorima's forehead. "It's not 'Kun' either, _baka_! We're the same age; if you don't understand honorifics then just stick with 'San'!" He pushed at his glasses again in irritation. "And you're too unorganised."

At the commotion, Sensei turned and fixed his knowing eyes on the green-haired boy. "Oh, Midorima-kun! Are you speaking while I'm trying to teach?"

Midorima immediately rearranged himself at his desk and replied, "My apologies, Goro-sensei. There was a misunderstanding; it won't happen again."

Faint snickers echoed from around him, but he paid them no heed as Sensei returned to his lesson, and he strived to do the same. But all the while he could feel a pair of violet eyes piercing the back of his neck; twice he had to shake the sensation from his shoulders. Finally, after the third shiver – an unfortunate number – he glared back at the boy who had already caused him so much trouble.

Hiroko was staring at him impassively, leaning back in his chair with a relaxed posture – which was a problem. Sensei was currently giving an in-depth explanation of the concept of Negative-Feedback Systems, which was certain to be on their final exams, and this fool was sitting contentedly without a care. _Seriously, how thick could you get?_

It was then he noticed that the desk the boy was sitting in was completely devoid of any writing material; glancing across, he saw that the people sitting closest to Hiroko were shooting him strange looks and pointedly putting away their utensils. He sighed once, resigned. _Honestly, where is the decency…?_

Choosing a pen from his meticulously-arranged pile, he waited until Sensei's back was turned before offering it to Hiroko behind his back; a moment later and a soft, cool hand slowly extracted the pen. But before he could draw his hand back, Hiroko's thumb brushed lightly across his wrist – as though in a sort of thanks. Midorima's eyes widened and he jerked his limb back into place, refusing to look back at the boy – suddenly wary of what he might find.

For the rest of the lesson he kept his eyes firmly trained to the front of the classroom, studiously copying down notes Sensei deemed important, and even some that weren't. After the first year, he learned that Goro-sensei was subtle in his teachings, and the most significant content that was sure to come up on the exams were usually left unexplored. After his detailed description of the key differences between Negative Feedback Systems and Homeostatic Mechanisms – which Midorima paid special attention to – he left the students to summarise a text from their workbooks and made his way down to Midorima's desk.

"Midorima-kun, are you keeping up with the content? I can help you with anything you're unsure of."

Midorima placed his pen on the desk and adjusted his glasses. "Thank you, Goro-sensei, but it wasn't like that. It had nothing to do with me."

Goro-sensei nodded in understanding, and then turned to the seat behind and to the right of Midorima's. "Then, is there anything you're unsure of…" He broke off and studied the Hiroko with a strange expression. "I'm sorry, what was your name?"

Hiroko fixed that unsettling stare on the man before him, causing him to shiver a little. "Satoshi Hiroko, Sensei."

Sensei cleared his throat and pulled at the tie around his neck. "Hiroko… Is it alright if I call you Hiro-kun?"

The boy studied him with that unyielding gaze, causing the teacher to squirm a little more. For a moment Midorima actually thought he was going to refuse the request, and noted the way Sensei fidgeted uneasily under the growing tension. He'd never known a student to make this teacher so anxious. _Seriously, what is with this kid's presence…?_

And then, like the breaking of a storm, Hiroko smiled. "You can call me whatever you like, Sensei."

"O-Oh… That's good then," Sensei laughed, but his hoarse voice betrayed his relief. "Well, Hiro-kun, is there anything in particular you needed help with?"

"No, thank you. Shin-kun helped me earlier; it's thanks to him I was able to focus on and understand your lesson." He grinned again while Midorima glared from behind Sensei's back. "Without him, I'd probably be lost right now."

Sensei looked a little taken aback. "Sh-Shin-kun?" He glanced back and forth between the two boys. "I didn't realise the situation. Midorima-kun, I'm glad to see you're making friends!" The green-haired shooter tried to interrupt, but Sensei was beaming at him with something akin to pride. "It's a good thing you found Midorima, Hiro-kun. He's one of the top students in the grade; wise of you to seek help from him." Sensei winked at Hiroko approvingly.

Hiroko returned the praise with a grateful smile. "Hai! I'm glad I met Shin-kun today; I'm sure we will be friends soon."

 _Over my dead body. This has gone far enough!_ Just as Midorima made to stand, Sensei exclaimed, "Oh!" and nodded to himself, as though he'd thought of something brilliant. He studied Sensei warily.

"What is it, Sensei?" Hiroko asked curiously – too curiously. Midorima narrowed his eyes on the boy, wondering what he was playing at.

"I just had a wonderful idea!" he said excitedly. "The upcoming assignment for this class is going to be a group assignment, and students will be required to work in groups of three or four – but since I know that Midorima-kun doesn't function too well with others, I can make an exception. I think it would be best for you two to work together. What do you say, Midorima-kun?" He turned to the miracle shooter with a self-satisfied expression, and for the first time in his life, Midorima felt himself developing an aversion for the man. "Would you work with Hiro-kun on this assignment? I'm sure he could use your assistance."

Midorima scowled and began packing up his books just as the bell for lunch sounded. "This is completely unnecessary. I don't see why I have to work together with him when I can produce perfectly satisfying results on my own."

Sensei appeared crestfallen by his response. "Oh, but Midorima-kun…"

Hiroko interrupted then, and this clear, ringing voice gave him pause for a moment. "I won't be a hindrance to you, Shin-kun. I'll prove to you that I can be of use in this assignment."

When Midorima glanced back, the boy was gazing at him calmly, but with an unexplainable urgency in his eyes. It only served to strengthen his conviction. "You don't have to prove anything to me. You're perfectly capable of completing this task yourself." Bag in hand, he followed the throng of people leaving the classroom without further comment.

Sensei sighed as he gazed after the tall student longingly. "I'm sorry, Hiro-kun. Midorima can be… stubborn and rather abrupt at times, despite his keen intellect. You'll have to forgive him his behaviour this time around…" When he turned to smile at Hiro-kun, he stammered at the boy's guarded expression. "Hiro-kun! Please, don't let it get to you! He's just wary of new people around him, but he doesn't mean any harm –"

Just like that, Hiroko's face lit up in a bright smile that made his eyes glitter like sapphires – Sensei faltered and was momentarily thrown by their brilliance. "It's alright, Goro-sensei. I'm not bothered by it. But, that doesn't mean I'm going to give up here."

He frowned. "What do you mean, Hiro-kun?"

While the class was busy filing out of the room, Hiroko spread his hands and explained, "It was your wish to see Shin-kun and I work together on this assignment; I will work harder to make him see that I'm smart and hard-working. Also, I think we could become great friends, if I give him the chance to show me his real personality…" He paused, appearing to gather himself. "I will find a way to make him work together with me on this assignment!"

Sensei blinked, surprised at his conviction, and then beamed. He clapped his hands and exclaimed, "I love your determination, Hiro-kun! That's right, don't give up! Make him see what a reliable, friendly character you are!" He gave the boy a cheery thumbs-up. "Don't worry, I know he'll come around."

Hiroko kept that enthusiastic smile in place as Sensei ushered him out of the classroom with a heated face, but as soon as he turned the corner and disappeared from view, it melted away to be replaced with his usual icy demeanour. Sparkling indigo eyes were replaced by piercing violet, and despite his outlandish appearance, his presence became more and more diminished the further he walked. People began to pass him in the halls, unconsciously stepping aside for the figure that walked unhurriedly and in perfect rhythm.

Those who did catch sight of him immediately began to whisper, girls going red in the face and glancing away, while the guys stood by and scowled challengingly. It was strange how often the males immediately ostracised him, but Hiroko understood their defensiveness. In a way, he could almost be considered beautiful – if it wasn't for the shining white hair and the piercing violet eyes, and the way they seemed to linger even though they had already travelled elsewhere. But rather than handsome, there was another, less pleasant description in everyone's minds. Unspoken, the word travelled down the hall like the soft buzzing of a fly – there, but only if you paid attention.

 _Freak_.

* * *

Midorima had almost single-handedly cleaned the classroom for the end-of-day duties, and as he stepped out of the classroom, he spotted Takao jogging up to him. "Shin-chan! You've only just finished? We're supposed to be on the court in five minutes!"

He sighed at his friend's impatience and pushed at his glasses. "We'll be fine. Stop stressing, Takao."

But Takao didn't calm down at all – in fact, sweat began to bead his forehead, and he explained slowly, "It's the first practice session of the season, Shin-chan. And Miya-san was elected captain, remember? Last year, his older brother was pretty brutal to us! And he's just as nasty. If we're late to the first practice, he'll be after our hides!"

They stood staring at each other for about half a second.

No more than three minutes later, they entered the basketball court panting and uniforms soaked with sweat. Still, their frantic eyes sought out the clock on the wall, and they both let out a relieved breath.

"Thank goodness," Takao gasped. "We… made it…"

"Of… course… we did… _baka_." Midorima inhaled deeply and straightened. "I carry my lucky item with me always. With this, there's nothing that can interfere with my tight-packed schedule…" He trailed off as he patted his back pocket – only to find it empty. Heart sinking, he patted around his pockets and shirt for the heater pack.

Takao frowned at him. "What's with you? What, can't find it?" He began to laugh as his green-haired companion became increasingly more flustered. "Whoa, I've never known you to lose your lucky item, Shin-chan. Maybe your luck's finally starting to run out… Hey. What're you doing – hey, stop that – OI!"

He tried to fight the large hands that reached for him, but he couldn't stop the inquisitive fingers from covering his body from head to toe, poking in uncomfortable places as they went. He kicked at his friend, trying to wriggle away, but he soon found himself on the floor trapped underneath the miracle shooter's large body. While his friend conducted a full-body search, Takao noticed that he seemed to be muttering something under his breath.

"Where are you… lucky item… You've got to be around here somewhere… I couldn't have left you behind…"

From the sidelines, the crowd of boys that had gathered to attend the first training session of the basketball season watched the forced groping with increasing anxiety. One of them muttered, "Is that the legendary shooter from the Generation of Miracles? I thought he was supposed to be really impassive…?"

"Yeah," another boy replied in a hushed tone. "I saw him play last year against Rakuzan. They got flattened, but he kept his cool the whole time and put up a good fight. I never imagined he was a pervert…"

"– Where is it –?"

"Should we do something?"

"No, I don't think we should interfere…"

"– Takao, where did you hide it –?!"

"I didn't take it, you green-haired pervert! Get your hands off me, you're making a scene –!"

"– Don't take me for a fool –!"

"Oi," an ominous voice said from close to Midorima's ear. "What do you think you're doing, making such a ruckus on my first day as captain?"

Midorima's vision was suddenly filled with floating stars, and he dropped to the floor, a line of drool trickling from his open mouth.

A surge of shouts rose from the audience, but Yuya Miyaji was already walking over to them, dusting off his hands like he'd just disposed of some trash.

"Shin-chan!" Takao stood and quickly began assessing his friend's condition, finally opting to just drag him bodily into the frantically-formed line when he showed no response. Miyaji watched them with a scowl of distaste before turning to address the candidates.

"Alright, ignore that disturbing display of BL you just saw and form up! I don't want any distractions from this session, got it?"

The chorus of " _Hai_!" was devoid of Midorima's usual deep baritone. Yuya scowled at that, but pointedly ignored the currently-floundering boy as he continued.

"Today you're going to be put through a range of physical exercises designed to test your technical skills as well as endurance. A basketball player of mediocre fitness can go for at least eight minutes of intense gameplay before his body needs a beak; anyone who tires out before six is eliminated from the lineup immediately, no questions asked. That includes our regulars," he added, pointedly glaring at the green-and-black-haired duo. Takao chuckled guiltily, but Midorima just stared ahead with a faintly pink face. "In fact, if someone could out-do them, that would be great…"

" _Hai_!"

"Alright, there are a fair few of you this year, so form four rows! We'll get started with a simple beep-test."

" _Hai_!"

Obediently, the boys began to sort themselves into four rows of five. They chattered excitedly, and Midorima could feel their explosive excitement at the prospect of joining the team. He snorted a little. _It's going to take a lot more than childish enthusiasm to pass. Fools…_

"Ahh…" Takao sighed as he stretched toward the roof. "It's been a while. I haven't really practised any endurance exercises since before the holidays… And Miya-san isn't taking it easy on us today…"

"Don't talk like you don't already know you're going to pass," Midorima admonished as he cleaned his glasses on his shirt. "You didn't get this far just to laze-out. Don't forget, you're my rival, so you'd better not disappoint me, _baka_."

"Huh?" Takao pouted, and then grinned up at him. "You always take everything as a challenge… Relax, Shin-chan. I'll give our potential teammates a good show."

Midorima didn't say anything more, satisfied by the look in his friends' eyes.

"Besides," Takao continued as he examined the boys in front of him. "I don't have too much faith that half of them will make it through the beep test… Well, maybe that guy over there will." He pointed to a boy who was almost Midorima's height, but much burlier in the arms and chest. "He looks like he goes running at least five days a week. And… Maybe that lanky guy on the end of the second row? He's been checking us out since we walked in here, you know… Taking note of our build, probably. He seems kinda smart."

He followed Takao's eyes, assessing the brown-haired boy who was unsuccessfully trying to sneak glances at them. He blushed a little when he realised he'd been discovered, and immediately faced the front.

Midorima snorted and adjusted his glasses. "No. He's distracted and thus would fall prey to Tetsuya's abilities far too easily. Not to mention his outward attitude is a reflection of the people around him… We need players who can help us win." When he glanced down, Takao was staring at him with a weird face. "What?"

"You got all that from just a look?"

"It's a simple observation."

A beep sounded, and the first row of candidates set off, jogging from one side of the court to the other whilst keeping time with the beeps. As they became more frequent, they had to increase their pace; within three minutes, most of them were dripping sweat and panting excessively. Midorima dismissed them and focused more on the two boys who kept their breathing in check, noting the way one boy in particular minimised the amount of energy used to turn around at the end of the court by simply pivoting on one foot.

 _Applying the concept of centripetal force instead of attempting to counteract the force of inertia to keep your body from tiring too quickly… Smart. However, the amount of energy required to counteract the resulting centrifugal force is still great._ Midorima observed him some more, but his inner musings were interrupted by Takao, who chuckled to himself a little.

"Now, there's a smart cookie. See the way he's staying on his toes to minimise the contact between his body and the ground? It keeps his muscles from having to work extra hard every time he steps. Even though it uses a fair amount of energy to maintain that pose, it's better in the _long_ run. Ha! Get it?" He guffawed at his own joke.

"You're slow," the miracle shooter replied evenly. "But yes, I did notice. It also lowers the amount of energy required to counteract the centrifugal force at the end of the court. In other words," he explained, pushing at his glasses, "By staying on his toes, it makes it easier to pivot his body a full one-hundred and eighty degrees in the opposite direction each time."

"Hmmm…" Takao mused as two boys dropped out of the test. "Isn't that one of Kuroko's strengths?"

"Yes. That's part of what makes him such a skilful player; because he is able to navigate around the court so quickly using this technique, he is able to vanish from people's sight quickly and appear somewhere else, seemingly out of nowhere." He gestured to the boy. "He might make a valuable addition to our team."

"Yeah, he sure would – wait…" Takao narrowed his eyes and let out a loud exclamation that made Midorima's brow twitch in annoyance. "Isn't that Kimura-san's brother? Shinsuke-san, right? Shinsuke… Shin-chan!"

At that, the boy jerked around in surprise, eyes peeling the line of boys, but quickly went back to his exercise as another beep sounded. Suddenly he was behind, and he became flustered as he tried to keep up with the increasingly frequent beeps. Back in the ranks, Takao was taking shelter behind an anxious first-year and shaking with silent laughter.

Midorima bonked him on the head. "You made him lose his rhythm, _baka_. You should be more careful!"

"S-Sorry," he chortled. "It was pretty funny… But you know, now we're gonna have two Shin-chan's on the team!"

"Don't assume that just because he's Kimura-san's brother, he's going to be part of the team," Midorima admonished. "Now that you've messed him up, he might actually struggle to pass."

"Pfft, as if. If he can't take a little pressure, then he hasn't got what it takes… There, see?" The final beep sounded, and the boys jogged over the line with varying expressions of relief. "He's fine. He'll make it, for sure."

"Next!" Yuya barked, and a moment later the next row of candidates took off. "First row, don't get too comfortable!" He pointed to the bleachers, and Takao watched with amusement as their expressions soured. "You've got two minutes to go up and down those six times, and then get back here. Get moving!"

Beside them, a low whistle sounded. "Wow. He's not messing around, is he?"

Midorima glanced down at the space beside him he'd originally thought vacant – and blanched. "You! W-What are you –"

Hiroko was gazing up at him with a pair of piercing, unblinking violet eyes that sent a shiver of awareness down his spine. "I'm here to try out for the basketball team. Just like you, Shin-kun."

Midorima and Takao both began to sputter at once.

"– 'Shin- _kun_ ' –?"

"– I'm already part of this team, you imbecile –"

"Actually," Hiroko interrupted with a raised finger, "You're not. Every candidate here has a chance of making the team, regardless of past experience."

Midorima paused at that, and thought for a moment. "Fine. But we'll make the team, just like last year. You, however, will not."

"That's where you're wrong," he returned calmly.

Midorima adjusted his glasses. "Have you ever played basketball as a sport?"

"No."

Beside him, Takao bristled, and for the first time in nearly a year, Midorima glimpsed actual anger in his friend's eyes. "Then what makes you think you're going to pass? You have no technical skills, and I doubt your endurance is up to scratch."

The boy shrugged. "That's a matter of individual opinion, I suppose. I'll just have to try my best, isn't that right?" His smile seemed a little forced with the way his eyes remained totally unblinking, which only served to anger Takao even more. "But, Shin-kun..." He stood up on his toes and leaned in close to Midorima, who was suddenly frozen in surprise. When he spoke, his breath was warm and voice soft so that only he could hear. "I'm going to make you accept me. When I make the team, I want you to admit you were wrong… and I want you to promise to be my partner in the Biology assignment, okay?"


End file.
